Editing Making sense of community research (section)

=== Don't let citations bog you down. ===

Formal research requires citations, sometimes lots of citations. We're building on what came before, and trying to go beyond expressing opinions into synthesizing evidence into arguments. Just like your math teacher probably once upon a time told you to show your work, citations are how we build up an argument. You don't need to read the citations -- but if you are in doubt of the work, or need to gauge the author's credibility, feel free to take a look at what's being cited: does it really say what the author says it does? It takes time and practice to get used to reading work that's studded with citations.